Taurus/Sable Maintenance & Repair

Comments

Touching wheels, rotors, and calipers after driving would seem pretty unscientific. If you come to any kind of stop using your brakes you will generate heat, so for sure your rotors will get warm. That is how brakes work. The friction that stops your car also generates heat.

Maybe if you took the car out for a high speed run and then were able to coast down to a stop without using your brakes, and then the disks were hot you could then assume you were getting excess drag of the pads on the rotors. Otherwise, just having hot rotors or calipers could be misleading.

Your tires will also be warm after a high speed run as tires generate heat when flexing. Nothing to be concerned about, however.

I am sure you are smart guy to read and interpret my advise correctly and not to touch your pads or calipers.If you have alloys, just feel any spoke, your wheels should be warm/hot enough for you to be able to touch no matter how fast or how long you have driven (don't intentionally apply brakes and make your wheels extremely hot) just do your regular driving. If system drags, the wheel will be extremely hot even under normal driving.

But I think your brakes are due. 29K replacement is normal for city driving, that's what I believe. One last thing, if dealer comes up with a brake job offer, don't take it. Stock rotors and pads are not good and way over priced...

Hey has anyone ever changed a windshield washer motor on a Taurus? I've got a '95, and the washer doesn't work anymore. I can hear the switch click when I push it, but no juice comes out!! Just wondering where the motor is, and if it is something a "shade tree mechanic" can replace. Thanks,

Can someone tell me whether a wire harness from a 2000 or 2001 Ford Taurus is compatible with and can be used on a 2002 Ford Taurus? Is is the same part? If the wire harness is bad, what effect will this have on the operation of the car? Also, what is the typical charge for replacing the wire harness?

Can someone tell me what a throttle cable is? What symptoms will be experienced if throttle cable is bad? What can cause a throttle cable to go bad? Also, what is the typical charge for replacing the throttle cable?

Which wire harness you'r talking about, as far as I know there are more than one wire harness, like headlights, lights, radio etc. Can you be more specific...Bad TB cable causes idling and drivability problems, again, you need to be more specific...

Well, I managed to keep my 97 Taurus out of repair shops for almost entire 2003, until there was "no heat" in Dec. Took it to my dealer - diagnosed a closed heater core valve, which required entire heater core to be replaced(not sure if it was really necessary?). They quoted $900 and I agreed, since my extended warranty covered it (2nd time the $700 extended warranty bought in 98 actually covered something, all other repairs were minor). My cost-$100(deductible+coolant+thermostat which I decided to replace too). Anybody had their heater core valves broken? As spring came around the corner, I was "pleased" to learn that A/C is blowing hot air only. Took it to a really good Goodyear shop nearby. Turns out freon leaked out. They put a dye in the system, but couldn't find a leak. Asked me to come back in Sept to see how it's doing. Cost me another $200. While they were fixing A/C, they found worn spark plugs & wires, replaced rusted oil pan, flushed out transmission fluid (it was shifting rough sometimes) = $600.So, paying almost $1k in repairs in 5 months on a car with 83k mi didn't please me at all, but I'm willing to put $1k a year in it, since it's been paid off for a year now and drives really well. In general it's been relatively trouble free, except some small things which happen once-twice a year (worn out ball joints, resurfaced rotors, new brakes, and new sub-frame bushings -3 times).I hope to drive it until 2008 or 150k mi, as long as it costs me $1k-$1.5k a year to fix it. It's still much cheaper than buying a new car. I think Ford builds a really good Taurus! Yes, it has more problems per vehicle than Toyota/Honda, but the upfront cost is typically $3-5k less than Japanese, and the spare parts are cheaper.

I doubt if you really had worn plugs and wires. Platinum plugs go to 100k miles. My take on tuneups these days is if it starts good, runs good, gets mileage as normal, don't touch it for a "tuneup" until maybe 100k. There just isn't much to tune anymore.

Can't imagine you would have an oil pan so rusted it is near rusting out, but I suppose it is possible.

I can sympathize on the AC however. In our last three vehicles, two Caravans and my 1990 Taurus, AC was the least reliable and most expensive repair issue. Otherwise they were pretty trouble free. I just wish I could have an AC problem that only costs $200. Our 1996 Caravan has now had just about every AC component replaced, half of it two years ago, and the other half was fixed just yesterday. I am hoping my 2000 Taurus has a better AC system. So far so good, but time will tell.

Have the shop take a hard look at all the hose connection points. Ford AC connector O-rings are a common source of refrigerant leaks. A good shop should have an electronic refrigerant leak detector, which will pick out leaks as low as 1 gram/year. BTW, DuPont "Freon" is R-12 refrigerant, phased out of most cars by 1994. All newer cars use R134-A refrigerant.

If I am not mistaken, you have a Taurus. I've got a question that I am hoping you can, at least, quide me. When the car starts, idle jumps to 2K rpm, slowly goes down to 1K rpm and it stays there. While in park, when you give some gas, idle goes up to like 1500 rpm and HANGS there for 5 seconds and then starts going down.

There is no drivability issue, car idles very smooth in drive and traffic, it has nice pick up power, pedal is responsive.

I already changed IAC. TB and upper intake manifold is very clean. A month ago, I cleaned TB, MAF and IAC. Also attempted to pull EGR out, I was able to get two bolts out but the bottom nut didn't come out so I put everything back. Since then I had this issue. Also I used the same TB gasket I pulled. The entire problem started after this.

I checked out visible vacum lines, seem like fine and there is no hissing sound from anywhere in engine.

Appears to be car is getting much more air in park for some reason, it idles like Mustang in park, in drive it idles like MB...

Ok, I'm an idiot. I've done a million brake jobs on my vehicles. Now I have to replace a frozen caliper, damaged rotor and pads. Everythings going good until I can't figure out the pad placement in the caliper. there's no spring clips like I'm used to, just springs...Can anyone give me some insight? I lay the pads in but they don't seem to move back and forth, etc.ThanksTom

I have G4 Taurus, I've not seen G3 brakes but think they are the same...Pads are suppose to be resting on Caliper Anchor. There is no spring or nothing. Place the pads on Anchor and close down the caliper. The caliper will hold the pads. Pads are suppose to be slightly loose on Anchor this is important for them to travel back and forth with piston movement.Hovever, You need to check Haynes or Chilton manula to be sure. Like I said I never worked on G3. I see where you are coming, my Dodge has those clips...

I have a 2001 Taurus with the 12 valve engine, the idle speed bounces anywhere from 550-850 RPM's, and it wants to stall but hasn't yet. I've taken it to the dealership at least 3 times and they can't find anything wrong with it after checking it on their diagnostic equipment.

It also pings intermittently, but loudly when the engine is at a normal operating temperature, under light or heavy acceleration, especially on hills. The problem with both of these issues is that the car doesn't exhibit these issues when I take it to the dealership. Luckily, the car is under warranty (Factory warranty ends in about 1500 miles, or July of this year).

Does anyone have any clue(s) to why my car is acting this way? Is anyone else having any problems similar to mine?

Oh! I think I already read all internet discussions and articles about this subject. Vulcan (12V OHV Ford Engine-what you have) engines are infamous for pinging. Delaer may reprogram your PCM but it didn't help mine. I can give you one friendly advise, if your dealer wants to charge you tunup or something, don't do it. Go ahead and run a search on Google, I tell you what to do, you either use 180 degree thermostat or upgrade to 93 octane gas. My Vulcan is so quite since I started to use 93 octane, I also ordered my 180 degree t-stat but haven't found a chance to install it.

For your rough idle, focus on Idle Air Control Valve. Unmeasured air is somehow entering your upper Intake Manifold...

To carlady 9. Our daughter returned from a trip last night which invovled driving at high speeds on a freeway. This morning we saw that the front While we are grateful that this happened in the driveway, we are furious that it happened at all. We have 83,000 miles on the car. We are waiting for a return call from the Ford garage and other independent garages regarding time it will take to fix this and cost. There is definitely something wrong with this coil!!!!

Hmmm...stumbling idle and pinging? I bet it stumbles worse when cold? Sure as heck sounds like an intake gasket leak to me! At the very least a vacuum leak somewhere, the dealer needs to make a better effort at finding the problem. But make sure you help him out: write down a list of conditions (engine temp, amount of driving time, outdoor temp, etc) that create the problem. You may also need to leave the car for a few days to allow him time to try different situations to duplicate the problem. If he can get the car at the point the leak occurs, then it saves him diagnostic time and you money. And DO NOT change thermostats.

You don't put a different temperature thermostat in any fuel-injected computer controlled vehicle. Never, ever.That won't solve your pinging problem. It will create a bunch more problems, though. You likely have a lean condition created by a failure in some type of fuel metering device or a vacuum leak somewhere. I'm betting vacuum leak, based on your high idle and pinging problem.

I solved the high idle problem, throttle body gasket was broken and upper intake sucking unmetered air into system, after $6, it is idling like silk.I disagree with your comments about lower temp t-stats. The symptoms you talk occurs only with 160 degree and below t-stats, cause they create stuck open thermostat effect which triggers CEL and all other things. 180s are widely used by many Taurus and other make owners as part of performance modification b/c it slightly increases HP by keeping engine temperature lower. Thisnk about it this way, within 10 minutes coolant circulates the engine block 7 times under 195 degree t-stat. With 180 degree t-stat, the number of circulation becomes 10 times.

"180s are widely used by many Taurus and other make owners as part of performance modification b/c it slightly increases HP by keeping engine temperature lower."

A lot of people do a lot of dumb things. Buy a manual on fuel injection, read it, pay special attention to the parts on coolant temp sensors and engine controls. Considering the huge federal penalties for CAFE violations, if the 180 degree thermostat is an improvement and makes an engine more efficient, why do the factories install 195 degree thermostats?

"Thisnk about it this way, within 10 minutes coolant circulates the engine block 7 times under 195 degree t-stat. With 180 degree t-stat, the number of circulation becomes 10 times."

Well, yes, more circulation cools the engine more (to a point). That doesn't prove how an engine programmed to run at around 192 will be more efficient at 180.I would debate this more, but I have to buy 1,000 shares in Texaco. Let me know when you install that thermostat so I'll know when to sell.

Thanks for your concerns; I am all aware of that cooling and emission concepts and theory. As an individual, I am doing my part to keep the environment clean more than many people. CAFE vialotions? Let the others who drive gas guzzler SUVs to go to McDonalds, worry about that.In this case, I can't talk for all the manufacturers but I can talk for Ford regarding why they don't use 180 degree t-stat. Even tough 12 Valve Ford Engine (OHV-aka Vulcan) is old technology; Ford puts it into many applications like Taurus, Mazda Trucks, and Ranger 3.0 trucks. Many of these vehicles suffer for engine ping. This is well established fact. Ford was forced to catch up with MPG and emission requirements that were enforced on Car manufacturers by Federal Government. Many manufacturers responded this by designing newer and more efficient engines. Ford, instead, continued to use Vulcan engine by performing some modifications. Using higher temperature t-stat (192-195) and modifying PCM parameters were several of them to create higher operating temperature to lower the emission and gas consumption. However, the Vulcan was not designed for this.

Did you know that factory default PCM octane value is 93 and Ford overwrites this by 87 by flashing PCM to force the car recognize 87 octane. During the production, they forgot to do that for some amount of Tauruses and then later issued TSB to correct the value.Searc for it, you will see what I am talking. But engine was not happy about this 87 octane mods. This was another act of getting by from strict MPG and emission regulations for manufacturers.This is why almost every Vulcan engine pings. But, lets clear something, this is only related to pinging caused by higher combustion chamber temperature. There are other reasons for pinging like ignition related causes, high carbon in TB and upper-lower intakes etc.So, Ford resolved the federal requirement on paper and in theory but created potential engine related problems which they discovered by consumers and solely owned by consumers. In other words. Ford unloaded the responsibility of their own acts to consumers.

This is why my case is an exception. For a car which runs perfect, lowering t-stat to gain HP, of course, will create a problem. So your argument, I don't think, applies to my case.

PS: If I were you, I wouldn't take Corporate America's actions/moves (scientific /ethical/ financial / environmental etc.) granted. To me they are the biggest liars in every aspect. They lie to Government, they lie to consumers, they abuse people all over the world, they abuse environment etc. Therefore, coming with a statement like "... if the 180 degree thermostat is an improvement and makes an engine more efficient, why do the factories install 195 degree thermostats?" will not carry merit. Don't look logical or scientific fact behind of how Corporate America does manufacturing...

You are undoubtedly correct about corporate America. Unfortunately, the US (and any other) government is even worse about lying and certainly worse about manufacturing anything and is most horribly inefficient. Foreign manufacturers, with few if any exceptions, are far worse. They tend to work under less stringent government restrictions (our government does provide some benefits!), they use and abuse their workers, their environment, deliver the lowest acceptable quality their customers will tolerate, as well as cheating their distributors and suppliers whenever and however possible.

Ah yes, "What about the Japanese?" you ask. They do stick together as a nation and as a people. However, try being different in any way in their culture. They have a saying, "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down." Heaven help you if you are not Japan Japanese or if you don't adhere to the societal norm.

Yes, you are probably correct. But I cannot think of anywhere or any better system at the moment. Unfortunately, we achieve this admirable level by sucking up a far greater percentage of the world's resources than is seemly (we represent only about 5% of the world's population, afterall).

We also share one trait with the Japanese: unless an American is involved, we could care less about you or your troubles. Try watching BBC news. You will find out to your probable amazement that their are a whole host of civil wars going on right now (one since 1984!). In fact, their is a whole other world of good and bad news happening that would come as news indeed to even the best educated set of us Americans. We truly are the current most selfish and arrogant nation on Earth. I am very sorry to say.

Is there anyone better out there. Probably not. But, being able to claim "best hog in the pig sty" isn't saying much. :-(

My Taurus has been running very cold for several weeks. Gage reads low and there's little or no heat on cool mornings. The check Engine light is also on steady. I suspect a bad thermostat, where is it located? How difficult to replace. I signed up for ALLDATA, but it was useless. None of the Chilton or Haynes manuals have up to date info.Thanks

Certainly sounds like a simple thermostat problem. I don't know where they are on current Tauri, but historically, the thermostat is located in a housing mounted on the engine on the end of the large upper hose that runs from the engine to the radiator. This is usually not a very expensive problem.

Depending on exact age and mileage, you may still be under the 36K, 3year bumper to bumper warranty.If so, then the fix becomes very inexpensive.

You may have bad coolant temperature sensor too. You might want to get your code read first to determine what is wrong. Either of them (t-stat, CTS) requires to drain coolant down to certain level, change both of them. they are cheap parts. As I recal, CTS needs to be replaced every 2 years.